Joplin tornado costs insurers $1.13 billion

JOPLIN (AP) — Insurers have spent about $1.13 billion in claims tied to the Joplin tornado and payouts continue to grow.

The head of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration said total insured losses could be $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion.

John Huff called the tornado the “largest insurance event in Missouri history.”

The Joplin Globe reported the numbers don’t reflect uninsured losses or properties that are underinsured. Officials have estimated that as much as 40 percent of the residential dwellings in some neighborhoods in the tornado-damage zone lacked insurance or were underinsured.